What this answer does not acknowledge, however, is that Elizabeth changes too. She listens to Darcy's rebuttal and reconsiders their encounters and then meets him and is more willing to give him a second chance as a person. The fact that it isn't all a one-sided "Oh, I've made a terrible mistake!" *cue pining and rainstorms* is what makes P&P stick with you after you've read it. (Or watched it.)

For me, that's what makes Lizzie and Darcy as a pair so wonderful (and therefore P&P). And I don't think that dual development is seen in any of the other books. Emma changes a lot, but Knightley doesn't. Captain Wentworth changes, but Anne doesn't. At least, I don't remember any significant changes.

Elizabeth is often considered an ideal heroine, so perhaps that's why Darcy has a similar reputation. Would they be considered so without the other?

Has anyone seen Love and Friendship, the film based on Lady Susan? It's so different from a 'typical' Austen movie, but hilarious and brilliant nonetheless.

Basically, all of Jane Austen's male characters have faults. That is what makes her books so good. As for as many people holding Mr. Darcy as the iconic "perfect guy," I suppose a lot has to do with the fact that P & P is very well known and I think it is the most popular of Austen's books. Mr. Darcy might be in the books more than some of the other male characters. We hear interactions between him and Miss Bingley. I'm not sure that happens with any other of the leading men.

Hmm, I think you're right about us seeing more of Darcy compared to the other characters. The only one who might be comparable could be Knightley? I don't know.

Perhaps it's not so much that he has faults or that he's willing to change for Elizabeth, but that he acknowledges his faults and is willing to change across the board. He changes not solely for Lizzie but for everyone, and with no thought of reward. Austen constantly mocks those who act cruelly and pretend goodness, and she redeems very few of them. Emma and Darcy are probably the characters who change the most.

I think the Lizzie Bennet Diaries was an excellent adaptation. I was very disappointed in the Laurence Olivier one, I thought it messed up a lot of the book big-time. My favourite remains the 2005 version. I know a lot of people don't like it, but I like Kiera Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen and I think the supporting cast are excellent too. With the gorgeous cinematography and score, it's a perfect package! A close second is the 1995 version. My main problem with this (and almost every other adaptation, barring the 2005 one) is that Mrs Bennet is shrill and unrealistic. I think Austen wrote her as irritating and unaware, but not as a pantomime character.

Recently I watched Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It was interesting. I'd been told that it wasn't a good zombie movie (which I didn't mind in the least; I'm not interested in that!!) but that it was a good adaptation. I have to disagree ... it's very stripped down and simplified to accommodate the ridiculous zombie plot. I don't feel there's a good reason for anything that happens - you have to know the story already to understand it. However it is funny and it was great entertainment, if you don't mind a bit of gore.

To me Fitzwilliam Darcy is an excellent match for Elizabeth Bennett. They complement each other in a number of ways. Her high spirits and his gravitas. Her common sense and his refinement. Darcy is not, however, some sort of "ideal man." I don't think he would be a good partner for most women, and I know I'm personally not looking for "my Mr.Darcy."

I'm not sure what makes Mr. Darcy the iconic love interest, but I'd love to take a few guesses:
1)He's seemingly impossible to impress -but despite this he falls head over heels in love with Elizabeth (way more fun than a story about a Casanova, or even Colonel Brandon for that matter)
2)He's a secret admirer -Lizzie doesn't even know he doesn't HATE her till he proposes!
3)He's willing to change and grow as a person -some call it having "a teachable heart" a very great asset in a person you will spend your life with, I'm told.
4)He's a passionate character with strong loves and hates. A character like Henry Tilney, though a great guy, doesn't have this going for him.
5)He's educated, observant, and respectable. Not like Mr. Hurst who is only interested in cards or eating.
6)He's moral. He has problems with pride that leads Elizabeth to think he did other wrong things, but those turn out to be untrue. I know this probably isn't the reason modern culture likes Mr. Darcy, but it's one of my whys, and it was important to Elizabeth too.
7)He's willing to sacrifice for the person he loves, without any thought of reward or even her knowing about it.
8)He's rich and handsome. nuff said!

As great as Mr. Darcy is it would take some work and understanding to have a relationship with him. Personally, I think Mr. Knightly would be the greatest catch. Henry Tilney has a lot going for him too, though he is often overlooked.

Yesterday (Dec. 16th) was Jane Austen's birthday. My friends and I celebrated by playing Crazy 8's with Jane Austen playing cards. The cards have characters and quotes from her books on them. (We were not on top of things to plan an event on Jane Austen's birthday but we were together for another purpose). I did attend an event earlier in the week. I made a period dress to wear. At the event, I learned how to play Whist.

At the event, we got into a discussion about whether or not Wickham or Willoughby was the worst villain (for lack of a better word)

Wickham for sure. He was the archetypal cad and in this year, of all years, in 2017, Wickham has at least one modern alter ego. Or am I being unfair in some way?

I'll have to brush up on Jane Austen.

Just a note to say that I "read" (listened to) my first Jane Austen book recently. It was Pride and Prejudice. Being generally familiar with the story, it is great to finally know how all of the pieces fit together.

I was wondering if anyone had played the card game "Marrying Mr. Darcy" before? A friend got it for Christmas and we played a rousing couple of games last week. Each person plays as a female character from Pride and Prejudice, and the goal is to marry your character's best match and gain the greatest number of points. It took a bit to get the rules sorted, but it was a lot of fun.

How much difference have you noticed in your views of the characters and situations, as you have got older?

The first time I met a JA character was when I was about 14, and we had an extract to study in an English class. It was where Colonel Brandon listens to Marianne playing the piano, and he clearly admires her.
We were all shocked at such an "old man" fancying a girl barely older than us! Mid 30s was nearly as old as our parents.

It made it harder to appreciate the adult relationships that the books were really about, but I enjoyed them as I grew up.

From my extreme age now, I look at these "young men" who are running their estates, taking care of their tenants, etc, in their 30s, and I am impressed! Darcy, Knightley, and so on.

I have yet to actually read any of Jane Austen's works, but I have listen to three audiobooks in the last six months (Emma, Northanger Abbey, and Persuasion). Of the three, Persuasion is my favorite. And I plan to listen to Pride and Prejudice next, although probably not until next month. Scarlet was tired of me saying I was going to read them and then not getting around to, and so she told me to just do the audiobooks. Scarlet is rather smart.

We just watched the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice. It's still my favorite of all the Jane Austen movies.

SnowAngel

I'm new here, so I started reading all the posts in this thread but that proved to be quite time consuming. So, I will just jump in and say that I first read Jane Austen in high school when I did a book report on Pride & Prejudice. I remember reading a quote something to the effect of "books by Jane Austen are easy to get lost in" and at the time I thought the quote was criticizing Austen. Since that was many, many years ago, I cannot find the source of the quote, but I see it now as a compliment. I have read most of her books more than once, except Northanger Abbey, which I didn't really like at the time.
I've also watched numerous movie versions of her books, most of which I have enjoyed. The A&E Pride and Prejudice is my favorite--I feel that it really does take 5 hours to do justice to the book. Second favorite would be Persuasion with Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds. I think Anne Elliot is my favorite of the heroines and Amanda Root plays her beautifully.

How much difference have you noticed in your views of the characters and situations, as you have got older?

The first time I met a JA character was when I was about 14, and we had an extract to study in an English class. It was where Colonel Brandon listens to Marianne playing the piano, and he clearly admires her.
We were all shocked at such an "old man" fancying a girl barely older than us! Mid 30s was nearly as old as our parents.

It made it harder to appreciate the adult relationships that the books were really about, but I enjoyed them as I grew up.

From my extreme age now, I look at these "young men" who are running their estates, taking care of their tenants, etc, in their 30s, and I am impressed! Darcy, Knightley, and so on.

Oh my goodness, yes. When I first read Pride and Prejudice I thought Jane Bennet was such an old heroine at 23. Never mind what I thought about Anne Elliot at 27! I am still creeped out by a 30-something fancying a 14 year old. Maybe even moreso as my momma-bear instincts are now kicking in. When I was an older teen I did find it a bit more romantic even though I personally never had crushes on older men and thought my friends were strange for having them.

The big age gap with in Emma is more bearable as Emma is an adult but when he confesses he first fell for her when she was 13... ...I guess 13 year olds are cute.....but more in a "aw, let me go give you a cookie" sort of way. My husband is now reaching Col Brandon and Mr Knightley age. They were my favourite of the heros so it is all fine for me. But I still couldn't picture my husband running a 10 000 pound/year estate. ha ha

I'd have to think some more before being able to really ascertain how my views on everything has changed with age. I know I appreciate the books more for the wit and the dynamics between characters than just the "swoony" romance.

While I can't say that Jane Austen is one of my favorite writers, she's certainly one I enjoy reading.

I think my favorite of all her books is Persuasion. The main character, Anne, is older than the other heroines from Jane Austen books, being already 27 years old. I like how Jane Austen made her a quiet girl who has 'already lost her bloom'. She not loud and outspoken like Elizabeth Bennett nor medlesom like Emma, but filled with a quiet, determined strength that I came to admite and really appreciate.

The relationship between her and Captain Wentworth is also a great love of mine. It's nice to see not new love, but old love that didn't work out try to rekindle itself despite all the hurts and wrongs and grudges of the past.

I enjoyed the 1995 film version of Persuasion, I didn't like the other one very much. It didn't follow the book as closely. (Yes, I'm a book purist...it makes watching movies such a difficult affair.)

I do of course very much love Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. I think of all Jane Austen's book Emma was the most boring for me. Mansfield Park is a great favorite of mine and the youth, slightly immature attitude of Catherine from Northanger Abby was fun, and I like how she had such a wild imagination from reading too much gothic novel.

I think I have seen as many screen adaptions of Jane Austen books as there are. And I tend to like the older versions more. That goes for Pride and Prejudice, where I so prefer the 1995 mini series to the 2005 one. Persuasion I already mentioned, and Mansfield Park I love the 1983 mini series. There is a film that follows the book to the core. Though it was boring for the rest of my siblings, haha, not enough action

Sense and Sensibility I actually liked the BBC version more, also because it followed the book so well and Northanger Abby I also preferred the 2007 movie. Very good cast and acting.

For Inktober this year (a drawing challenge where you do an ink drawing every day in October) one of the prompts was Muddy... and I thought of a certain scene in Pride and Prejudice.

"I Hope You Saw Her Petticoat"

I have been on a Jane Austen kick. I listened to her six novels followed in turn by the BBC radio dramas. The dramas were decent adaptations. Each one of course had some parts that made me wince. I really liked most of the Northanger Abbey radio drama. They got the tone right unlike the one live action adaptation I've seen. The use of the narrator was brilliant to set the tone and make it clear it was poking fun at current novels.
After listening to all that, I was at a bit of a loss as to what to go on to next. I decided on The Mysteries of Udolpho to help me understand Northanger Abbey better. From the way the characters in Northanger Abbey talked, I was expecting a book full of horrors that would make me not want to stop. I am in the second volume and nothing I have come across I would describe as a "horror." I suppose it must be coming. Thus far I would say Northanger Abbey is more exciting.

Aha, so we DO have a dedicated Jane Austen thread here! (I'd been wondering.)

I'm currently re-reading The Spirituality of Jane Austen by Paula Hollingsworth, which I stumbled across a couple of years ago. It's not a long book, but it's very interesting, as it delves into an aspect of Jane's character that a lot of reviewers and commentators overlook: she was a very devoted Christian (specifically Anglican), from a tradition that held that it's far more important to let one's Christian values show in one's life than talk about them openly. So while she does lampoon insincere and shallow religious people like Mr Collins, there's a lot in her writings that reflects a much deeper sense of spirituality (though that's not a word she would have used) — especially the ways in which most of her heroines and some of her heroes need to grow and develop in character and become better people before they reach their happy ending. It's really worth reading and it's certainly deepened my appreciation for Jane Austen and her writings even further — I'd highly recommend it to anyone here who's also a fan.